11:3 When the foundations 1 are destroyed,
what can the godly 2 accomplish?” 3
1:6 “I will turn Samaria 4 into a heap of ruins in an open field –
vineyards will be planted there! 5
I will tumble 6 the rubble of her stone walls 7 down into the valley,
and tear down her fortifications to their foundations. 8
3:13 You march out to deliver your people,
to deliver your special servant. 9
You strike the leader of the wicked nation, 10
laying him open from the lower body to the neck. 11 Selah.
6:1 Jesus 17 was going through the grain fields on 18 a Sabbath, 19 and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, 20 rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. 21
3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, 23 kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 3:13 bearing with one another and forgiving 24 one another, if someone happens to have 25 a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. 26 3:14 And to all these 27 virtues 28 add 29 love, which is the perfect bond. 30 3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body 31 to this peace), and be thankful.
1 tn The precise meaning of this rare word is uncertain. An Ugaritic cognate is used of the “bottom” or “base” of a cliff or mountain (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47, 159). The noun appears in postbiblical Hebrew with the meaning “foundation” (see Jastrow 1636 s.v. שָׁת).
2 tn The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure [of heart]” in the previous verse.
3 sn The quotation of the advisers’ words (which begins in 11:1c) ends at this point. They advise the psalmist to flee because the enemy is poised to launch a deadly attack. In such a lawless and chaotic situation godly people like the psalmist can accomplish nothing, so they might as well retreat to a safe place.
4 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
5 tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”
6 tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”
7 tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.
8 tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.
9 tn Heb “anointed one.” In light of the parallelism with “your people” in the preceding line this could refer to Israel, but elsewhere the Lord’s anointed one is always an individual. The Davidic king is the more likely referent here.
10 tn Heb “you strike the head from the house of wickedness.”
11 tn Heb “laying bare [from] foundation to neck.”
12 tn Grk “and great was its fall.”
13 tn Grk “does not do [them].”
14 tn Grk “against which”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative clause was converted to a temporal clause in the translation and a new sentence started here.
15 tn Grk “it”; the referent (that house) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Grk “and its crash was great.”
17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
19 tc Most later
20 tn Or “heads of grain.” While the generic term στάχυς (stacus) can refer to the cluster of seeds at the top of grain such as barley or wheat, in the NT the term is restricted to wheat (L&N 3.40; BDAG 941 s.v. 1).
21 tn Grk “picked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.” The participle ψώχοντες (ywconte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style, and the order of the clauses has been transposed to reflect the logical order, which sounds more natural in English.
22 tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.
23 tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.
24 tn For the translation of χαριζόμενοι (carizomenoi) as “forgiving,” see BDAG 1078 s.v. χαρίζομαι 3. The two participles “bearing” (ἀνεχόμενοι, anecomenoi) and “forgiving” (χαριζόμενοι) express the means by which the action of the finite verb “clothe yourselves” is to be carried out.
25 tn Grk “if someone has”; the term “happens,” though not in the Greek text, is inserted to bring out the force of the third class condition.
26 tn The expression “forgive others” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. It is included in the translation to make the sentence complete and more comprehensible to the English reader.
27 tn BDAG 365 s.v. ἐπί 7 suggests “to all these” as a translation for ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις (epi pasin de toutoi").
28 tn The term “virtues” is not in the Greek text, but is included in the translation to specify the antecedent and to make clear the sense of the pronoun “these.”
29 tn The verb “add,” though not in the Greek text, is implied, picking up the initial imperative “clothe yourselves.”
30 tn The genitive τῆς τελειότητος (th" teleiothto") has been translated as an attributive genitive, “the perfect bond.”
31 tn Grk “in one body.” This phrase emphasizes the manner in which the believers were called, not the goal of their calling, and focuses upon their unity.